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Canucks Game Day: Closing out the homestand with an early start vs. Maple Leafs
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Photo credit: © Bob Frid-Imagn Images
Jeff Paterson
Jan 31, 2026, 13:11 EST
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The Vancouver Canucks (18-31-5) play their final home game prior to the Olympic break when they host the Toronto Maple Leafs (24-21-9) at Rogers Arena. The game starts at 4 pm PT and is the featured game in the early slot on Hockey Night in Canada.
The Canucks are looking for consecutive wins for the first time since before Christmas and, incredibly, back-to-back wins on home ice for the first time since last March. 

What we know

With the early puck puck, the Canucks did not hold a morning skate. So the team’s full lineup and starting goalie for this afternoon’s game aren’t yet clear. Adam Foote will meet with the media around 2:30 pm to reveal his lineup plans.
Based on Friday’s practice, the Canucks will go with a lineup similar to the one used to defeat the Anaheim Ducks 2-0 on Thursday night. However, Teddy Blueger, Nils Höglander and Filip Hronek were all absent from yesterday’s practice. However, all are expected to be available for today’s game. This is the way the team skated in a 40-minute on-ice session on Friday morning.
Drew O’Connor and Blueger scored the Canucks goals on Thursday while Nikita Tolopilo stopped all 32 shots he faced. He was forced out of the game by the league concussion spotter, and Kevin Lankinen came in relief to play the first 2:11 of the second period before Tolopilo was cleared to return to action. Tolopilo has stopped 57 of 59 shots in the past two games against San Jose and Anaheim.
Defenceman Elias Pettersson established a team high for the hardest shot by a Canuck this season early in the third period Thursday, unleashing a 98.17 MPH slap shot. 
After starting the homestand with a 6-0 loss to the Edmonton Oilers, which followed an 0-6 road trip, the Canucks have a chance to go 3-5 in this stretch of eight straight games on home ice.

The Opponent

The Leafs arrive in Vancouver in a bad way, having lost six straight (0-5-1) and with one win in nine (1-6-2). After dropping all five games on a homestand, they opened a four-game Western road swing with a 5-2 loss to the Seattle Kraken on Thursday. Nick Robertson and Morgan Rielly scored the Toronto goals while Anthony Stolarz allowed four goals on 21 shots. 
Leading scorer William Nylander is expected to return to the Leafs’ lineup tonight after missing seven games with a lower-body injury. He has missed 13 of the team’s past 17 contests. Nylander has 48 points in 37 games this season. Auston Matthews leads the Leafs with 26 goals, while John Tavares is second on the team with 19 markers.
At practice on Friday, Nylander skated on the team’s second line with Tavares and Mattias Maccelli.
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Former Canuck Oliver Ekman-Larsson is having a strong season with eight goals and 32 points. He’s heading for his best offensive season since he had 44 points with Arizona in 2018-19. Another former Canuck defenceman, Troy Stecher, appeared in his 600th NHL game earlier this week.
The Leafs are 30th in the league defensively, allowing 3.46 goals/game, and they are last in the league, allowing 31.6 shots/game. Toronto is just 8-12-3 on the road this season and has played the fewest road games of any team in the NHL. The Leafs have to play 18 of their final 28 games away from home. 
Joseph Woll is expected to get the start in goal.

News and notes

The Leafs beat the Canucks 5-0 in Toronto on January 10. Woll made 29 saves for the shutout while Thatcher Demko got the start for Vancouver that night, but left after 20 minutes in what would be his final appearance of the season. It was also the last game Kiefer Sherwood played in a Vancouver uniform.
Since 2006, the Canucks are a staggering 18-2 at home against the Leafs having won eight straight and 11 of the last 12 meetings on the West Coast.
The referees for today’s game are Jordan Samuels-Thomas and Trevor Hanson. This is the same crew that worked Thursday’s game against Anaheim.
Don’t forget to join Rink Wide Vancouver for full postgame coverage after this game – and every game. The livestream starts moments after the final buzzer. Rink Wide is the place for full postgame analysis and discussion. Contribute to the live YouTube conversation with your thoughts on the game and support our charity partner – the BC Mental Health Foundation – with a Superchat.

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